was the couple’s first born child. In 1737, Carl Fredric Bergman was born; he
would become an official in the Swedish Navy [5] and died in Stockholm in 1789;
he married in 1770 and had six children. In 1738, Torbern’s sister, Maria Regina
Bergman, was born. She married a customs inspector, Andreas Bark from
Kristinehamn, in 1761 and had six children. One of them was called Torbern and
was recorded as a silk weaver apprentice. At some point in the 1770s, the family
moved from Kristinehamn to Stockholm. Bergman’s father died in Mariestad in
1770, aged 66, while Bergman’s mother died in 1776, aged 80. She spent her last
years in Uppsala, living with Torbern.
Bergman only gives a small clue about his childhood in his short autobiography,
written in 1782: “In my early years as a child, I am supposed to have been
exceptionally lively, but that has largely disappeared, as soon as I started to study
more seriously. If one can judge from a child’s inclinations, what will become their
main occupation in the future, if they are allowed to counsel themselves, one would
already then have considered me as meant to become a chemist, since nothing
amused me more than being able to throw different available substances in the fire
and see their changes there” [6]. This fascination for fire indicates that Bergman
was a curious boy, but should perhaps not be taken too seriously. It may have been
included merely for stylistic reasons. In another text, Bergman concluded that
impressions could have strong effect on children’s future interests, as their minds
were still plastic [7]. All children did not have the same inclinations and talents; this
was according to Bergman an act of God to ensure that all different tasks in society
could be performed.
2.1 Grammar School in Skara
As a child, Bergman was taught by army preacher Johan Ödman, and by the
teachers at the school in Mariestad, Lars Otter and Bengt Ljungblad [8]. Aged 11,
he had learned to read well enough to be admitted at the grammar school in Skara, a
city of about 800 inhabitants. He was registered on November 13, 1746 along with
his younger brother [9]. On arrival, the children took a test to determine in which
class they should begin. The age of the pupils in a class therefore varied [10].
Bergman entered the third class, while his brother entered the second class.
Carl Linnaeus had visited Skara just a few months earlier, arriving in Skara on
June 25. Skara “is now a small city, although in the past it was the seat of several
kings and the capital of the Göta Kingdom. The houses were wooden except for the
bishop’s residence, the school, the Gymnasium and the library. The streets were
irregular, swampy and crooked” [11]. The church, originally built in the eleventh
century, but expanded to a gothic cathedral in the fourteenth century, did impress
Linnaeus, and most likely also on Bergman. Bergman had of course never seen
such a large building before. A modern visitor meets a very different city compared
to what Bergman saw. The cathedral remains, although its exterior was altered in
the nineteenth century.
2 Bergman and Scheele: Childhoods
13
would become an official in the Swedish Navy [5] and died in Stockholm in 1789;
he married in 1770 and had six children. In 1738, Torbern’s sister, Maria Regina
Bergman, was born. She married a customs inspector, Andreas Bark from
Kristinehamn, in 1761 and had six children. One of them was called Torbern and
was recorded as a silk weaver apprentice. At some point in the 1770s, the family
moved from Kristinehamn to Stockholm. Bergman’s father died in Mariestad in
1770, aged 66, while Bergman’s mother died in 1776, aged 80. She spent her last
years in Uppsala, living with Torbern.
Bergman only gives a small clue about his childhood in his short autobiography,
written in 1782: “In my early years as a child, I am supposed to have been
exceptionally lively, but that has largely disappeared, as soon as I started to study
more seriously. If one can judge from a child’s inclinations, what will become their
main occupation in the future, if they are allowed to counsel themselves, one would
already then have considered me as meant to become a chemist, since nothing
amused me more than being able to throw different available substances in the fire
and see their changes there” [6]. This fascination for fire indicates that Bergman
was a curious boy, but should perhaps not be taken too seriously. It may have been
included merely for stylistic reasons. In another text, Bergman concluded that
impressions could have strong effect on children’s future interests, as their minds
were still plastic [7]. All children did not have the same inclinations and talents; this
was according to Bergman an act of God to ensure that all different tasks in society
could be performed.
2.1 Grammar School in Skara
As a child, Bergman was taught by army preacher Johan Ödman, and by the
teachers at the school in Mariestad, Lars Otter and Bengt Ljungblad [8]. Aged 11,
he had learned to read well enough to be admitted at the grammar school in Skara, a
city of about 800 inhabitants. He was registered on November 13, 1746 along with
his younger brother [9]. On arrival, the children took a test to determine in which
class they should begin. The age of the pupils in a class therefore varied [10].
Bergman entered the third class, while his brother entered the second class.
Carl Linnaeus had visited Skara just a few months earlier, arriving in Skara on
June 25. Skara “is now a small city, although in the past it was the seat of several
kings and the capital of the Göta Kingdom. The houses were wooden except for the
bishop’s residence, the school, the Gymnasium and the library. The streets were
irregular, swampy and crooked” [11]. The church, originally built in the eleventh
century, but expanded to a gothic cathedral in the fourteenth century, did impress
Linnaeus, and most likely also on Bergman. Bergman had of course never seen
such a large building before. A modern visitor meets a very different city compared
to what Bergman saw. The cathedral remains, although its exterior was altered in
the nineteenth century.
2 Bergman and Scheele: Childhoods
13